Rumor: Satoru Iwata Turned Down Natal on Wii in 2007

In a report recently filed by CVG, Satoru Iwata of Nintendo was shown a prototype in 2007 by Israel firm 3DV Systems, the prototype was of a 3D motion sensing camera with voice recognition capabilities. Sound familiar? It should. That’s because this is exactly how one would describe Microsoft’s upcoming Natal product.

According to a trusted and “high up” source at Nintendo Japan; gaming site CVG reports that Iwata turned down this project because he was “unconvinced he could sell it at a Nintendo price point. He also had some worries around latency during gameplay.”

As far as we here at Elder-Geek can tell, 3DV Systems has received no recognition from Microsoft on this technology, though it is definitely the same technology. Microsoft’s version of this technology dubbed Natal will launch later this year at a 50$ price point, so judging by Nintendo’s pricing of their own peripherals one could argue that Iwata-san’s concerns have been defeated. What do you think? Leave your opinion in the comments below.